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Carl Dickens is hedging his bets and holding airline tickets for three different days, hoping one might get him home to Norwalk. The local businessman is stranded in Budapest, Hungary, unable to fly home because of the volcanic cloud that is hovering over northern Europe and grounding almost all airline travel.
"The lack of information, the lack of control is driving me crazy," said Dickens, calling Norwalk on his cell phone. "We're just trying to glean any information we can at this point."
Senior vice president of national sales for Kantar Media, Dickens traveled to Budapest last week for the companys annual global meeting. He was scheduled to have returned on Saturday but is now hopeful he will get a flight out on Wednesday. The hotel has allowed the business group to extend its stay at least until Thursday morning, making them better off than many travelers who have been stranded at airports across the United States and Europe.
"It's 60 degrees and sunny here," he said. "If it weren't for the fact that I have no idea when this will end and absolutely no control over it all, you would think this is a great holiday."
The ash cloud, stemming from volcanic activity in Iceland, has drifted across the busiest airline corridor in the world. Between 9,000 to 12,000 flights travel across the Northern Atlantic region every 12 hoursat least they did until aviation officials halted almost all air travel. The volcanic ash poses a serious threat to jet engines. Economists estimate the shut-down is costing the industry $200 million a day.
Airlines are encouraging passengers to rebook their flights and most carriers are waiving any penalties. The airlines have no responsibility to provide rooms or food for stranded passengers since the cancellations were not their fault. No one is certain when normal travel will resume.
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